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Holland Under Habsburg Rule, 1506-1566: The Formation Of A Body Politic

by James D. Tracy

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Book Description
Under what conditions were limited forms of self-government possible in medieval and early modern Europe? While many historians have sought an answer by focusing on the development of parliamentary institutions in emerging national monarchies, or investigating the wider autonomy enjoyed by various city-states within their own borders, James Tracy looks instead at an intermediate level of political organization, the self-governing province. Readers of medieval and early modern European history will learn here how the province of Holland, during the reigns of Charles V and Philip II (1506-1566), effectively underwent an apprenticeship in self-government.

From the Inside Flap
"To date, very little work has been done on tracing the development of the form of government that was to become characteristic of the Dutch Republic during its 'Golden Age.' The discussion of the development of representative institutions in the Low Countries within a European-wide comparative framework is valuable. . . . [Holland's] structure of representation came to differ significantly from its neighbors. It was not supposed to work, according to political theory of the time, and yet it did. Learning how it came about helps to understand how it managed to stand as the only viable form of political organization outside of increasing royal absolutism in early modern times."--William H. TeBrake, University of Maine, Orono

From the Back Cover
"To date, very little work has been done on tracing the development of the form of government that was to become characteristic of the Dutch Republic during its 'Golden Age.' The discussion of the development of representative institutions in the Low Countries within a European-wide comparative framework is valuable. . . . [Holland's] structure of representation came to differ significantly from its neighbors. It was not supposed to work, according to political theory of the time, and yet it did. Learning how it came about helps to understand how it managed to stand as the only viable form of political organization outside of increasing royal absolutism in early modern times." (William H. TeBrake, University of Maine, Orono)

About the AuthorJames D. Tracy is Professor of History and Chair of the Department at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of A Financial Revolution in the Habsburg Netherlands: Renten and Renteniers in the County of Holland, 1515-1565 (California 1985) and two other books.

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